KILLING ITS OWN CITIZENS

By Reymundo Salao

As long as the Filipino thinks of itself as inferior, the Filipino would never rise from its own misery. Problem is, even the government seeks to remain as the underdog servant of foreigners.

A number of stores, stalls, and residences in Metro Manila were demolished the other day in what the Inquirer newspaper daily describes as a “VIOLENT demolition of stalls that has left many vendors jobless and homeless.” It is because this area was part of what is said to be a foreign investor route. This isn’t much different with that time when the administration called for the demolition of “unsightly” squatters area residences in preparation for US President George (a.k.a. 21st Century Anti-Christ) W. Bush’s Philippine visit some years ago; areas where the American Government motorcade convoy was going to pass by. You can’t just backstab your own countryman just to please a foreigner. One of the residents were even crying and demanding for justice since she has the proper papers, business permits, and DTI permits to safeguard her business, but to no avail, her property was demolished nevertheless. A group of vendors are claiming rights over the property. Nevertheless, their cries fell on deaf ears as the demolition continued and many were left injured, including vendors, sympathizers, policemen and wreckers.

The problem with this government is that it renders itself too helpless and too dependent on foreign investors. Sure there’s money in foreign investment and tourism, but the government should not make it the stronger option when it goes along the way with Filipino interests. The Filipino must be nice and hospitable to foreigners but a Filipino must not deprive, prostitute and destroy his/her own fellow Filipino just to please the foreigners

The government seems to maintain as a general perception the notion of foreign investment being the key to solving the poverty of the nation. Although it may have some truth to it, it is not an absolute truth. The government hasn’t (or may refuse to not have) thought of it yet; it just lazily submits to this notion. Tinamad na ina ya! I’m starting to believe that there may be bigger “under-the-table” kickbacks and unannounced profit from such deals with foreign investments.

Our country is rich in many aspects. We obviously have superior natural resources from forests that can supply an endless amount of lumber, fruits, vegetables, beans, and herbs from our farms; we have the plants and herbs that can be used to supply ourselves with endless amounts of medicine. Who knows? We may already have the cure for cancer and AIDS in our own backyard, and we just don’t know it… maybe foreign companies already have secret laboratories and dummy corporations here that operate utilizing our natural resources for the profit of foreign companies? Many Filipinos die for lack of medicines, and the foreign company is selling it to us with a more than a hundred percent profit from it.

There once was a farmer who owned vast lands and rich rice fields. He had a son who, once reached manhood, was too lazy of learning to work hard for the land that his own family owns. The father told his son that he should now have the responsibility of a working adult and must work for his own money, utilizing their own land and a little effort. But the son refused to work in the farm and went to the city in order to work as a clerk under a foreign company. His wage is cheap and he is constantly at the mercy of his ruthless and moody boss. If he remained back in the farm as a hardworking farmer, he would’ve lived in much of his own wealth; he also would have the opportunity to share his own fruits with his own neighbors.

The Filipino government’s policy of being too dependent on foreign investment is like the stubborn and lazy son.

I’m wondering, because (the formerly war-torn) Vietnam is now very progressive (in a mere span of a little more than 2 decades), in the sense that it is already overtaking the Philippines; would Vietnam be in its healthy state of progress if America won that war in what they (hypocritically) claim to be “defending the interests of the Vietnamese”, or is Vietnam in its healthy state of progress because it finally ended its war and DEFEATED ITS OWN FOREIGN INFILTRATORS & FOREIGN RAPISTS?